THE FOUNTAIN INN 

^ AGNES SURRIAGE AND 

^ SIR HARRY FRANKLAND 




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THE FOUNTAIN INN 

Agnes Surriage and 
Sir Harry Frankland 



A PAPER READ BEFORE THE 

MARBLEHEAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

DECEMBER 8, 1904 
By NATHAN P. SANBORN 



rKESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY 



PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY y^ 

1905 

475457 



MARBLBHBAD 

N. A. LiNDSEY & Co, 

1905 



I 



T. 



HE pictxire of the Fountain Inn opposite the title 
page was made for the Historical Society by Thomas 
Pitman, a native artist and a member of the society. 

The site, the islands and the distant shore were all 
sketched with an artist's skill, while standing upon 
the premises. The house was then drawn where the 
hidden foundations plainly indicate that it shotild be ; 
and the various details are made to harmonize with 
the descriptions of the house as given in the sundry 
divisions, subdivisions and executions that followed in 
its brief history after the death of Nathaniel Bartlett, 
the Innholder. 

While we cannot vouch for its entire acctiracy, we 
can say it does not differ in any particular from the 
description given in the records. 



F>RKKACK. 



The early history of Marblehead furnishes 
abundant material for the writer and novel- 
ist; in many cases the plain, unvarnished 
facts read like fiction, and require no em- 
bellishment to make them fascinating to the 
reader. There were houses that were of im- 
portance in their day, the location of which 
is now uncertain. There were families, nu- 
merous for several generations, whose names 
have entirely disappeared from the list of 
the inhabitants of the town. All serving to 
make it easy for the novelist to spin and 
weave a good story, located in Marblehead. 

The story of the Fountain Inn and Agnes 
Surriage has been told in poetry and in 
prose ; notably by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes 
and Edwin L. Bynner, each drawing upon 
his imagination for incidents to fill up any 



6 PREFACE. 

apparent void in the story; each succeeding 
so well that his book has been widely read 
by sympathizing and interested readers; and 
as a result, hundreds of Marblehead visitors 
annually search out the site of the Fountain 
Inn, slake their thirst at the Fountain Well, 
and enquire, " How much of the story is 
fact, and how much is fiction? " The follow- 
ing paper is intended to give only well au- 
thenticated facts. 



THE FOUNTAIN INN 

AGNES SURRIAGE AND 
SIR HARRY FRANKLAND 



THE days of the Fountain Inn have 
long since passed. No living person 
remembers of ever hearing it said by 
any one, not even by grandfather or grand- 
mother, "I remember the old Inn; I saw it 
when I was a child. " 

No attempt, as far as I know, was ever 
made to describe the house, whether it was 
grand or otherwise. The question is some- 
times asked, "Was there ever such a house 
in Marblehead?" 

The question would not be worth answer- 
ing were it not for the fact that Agnes Sur- 



8 THE FOUNTAIN INN. 

riage, an artless but pretty maid, the daugh- 
ter of a poor fisherman, was once a servant 
girl there. 

It is nevertheless true the Fountain Inn 
was no myth, but was a real, substantial, 
hospitable, public house. One hundred and 
seventy years ago it was the public house of 
Marblehead. Strangers sought and found 
entertainment there, as did some to the 
manor born. 

Our information is meagre, but it is reliable, 
for it is drawn almost entirely from the 
Essex Registry of Deeds, and that not thus 
drawn is drawn from the rocks and the soil 
of the site we are studying. 

A few years ago the editor of the Essex 
Antiquarian, in an excellent article on this 
subject, gave us data that was new to most 
of us, and was new because it was so old. 
But it was a record on which we may rely. 

In the free use of facts, wherever they 
could be found, the following paper is pre- 
sented. 

On putting together the scattered frag- 
ments, we find not a complete picture, but an 
outline and a background of a house of the 



THE FOUNTAIN INN. 9 

eighteenth century, picturesque and fasci- 
nating to one who loves to study the history 
of Colonial times. 

Would it seem presumption on my part 
if I were to attempt to describe the estate on 
which the old hostelry stood, give in outline 
a description of the house and a history of the 
old Inn? It may seem so, but is it when we 
have so clear an outHne on the record, and 
the site is within easy reach. 

If I were to try my hand at it, I would say : 
In 1 720 on the plateau between Little Harbor 
and the great bluff that now bounds Fountain 
Park was the Bartlett homestead ; and well 
back toward the bluff and facing Little Har- 
bor stood the Bartlett mansion, and between 
the mansion and the harbor was the well, the 
garden and the orchard. 

When the mansion was first erected there 
was in the center of the grass plot in front of 
it a spring or a natural fountain where the 
clear, cool, fresh water came bubbling to the 
surface and was gathered in a Httle pool for 
the use of the household and their neighbors ; 
and that the water might not run to waste, 
but rather be stored for use, a well was dug 



lo THE FOUNTAIN INN. 

and for obvious reasons was called the 
Fountain Well. 

January 7, 1721, Nathaniel Bartlett, mar- 
iner and innholder, who had dug and built 
for himself a cellar in his father's orchard, in 
front of his father's dwelling, and near Little 
Harbor, received a deed of the land where he 
had commenced to build, and before 1723, 
when another piece of land was conveyed to 
him, his house was completed and opened as 
the Fountain Tavern; receiving its name 
from the well that was near its southern 
comer, over which was the sweep and in 
which was the oaken bucket. 

It seems to have been a house two stories 
high with the end towards Little Harbor, the 
front to the southwest, that is, facing the end 
of the lane from Orne street, by which it is 
approached; a front door in the center, and 
containing eight rooms, there being one 
" over the entry- way. " At about that time 
the " Commoners, " according to their records, 
began to hold their meetings at the Fountain 
Tavern ; and from that time Nathaniel Bart- 
lett was innkeeper until he died in 1749. 
The estate was then divided. The south- 



THE FOUNTAIN INN. ii 

easterly end was set off to Jane, his widow, 
as her dower, with one-half of the woodhouse 
and land adjoining. The remainder of the 
estate was divided between his two daughters 
and apparently the house ceased to be an inn. 
But it was always known as the Fountain 
Tavern. 

In 1757 the northwesterly part of the 
Fountain Inn passed into the estate of John 
Riddan, the man from whom the First 
Church purchased the land in Franklin street 
where the meeting house stood. In 1789 
Joseph Hinckley, merchant, (who owned the 
'' Hinckley Building" at the comer of Wash- 
ington street and ** Academy Lane") con- 
ve^^ed to Captain John Patten his interest in 
the Fountain garden and the land thereto 
adjoining on which the house called the 
Fountain Tavern formerly stood. In 1828 
the estate passed into the hands of Joshua 
O. Bowden, in whose family it still remains. 

What became of the old tavern, when or 
why it was removed we cannot, at this time, 
tell. 

It is evident that it was standing in 1757 
and that it was gone in 1789, and also that 



12 THE FOUNTAIN INN. 

Nathaniel Bartlett was its landlord through- 
out its history as a public house. 

To-day the plateau is there and the Foun- 
tain Well with its curb, but without the 
sweep and the iron-bound oaken bucket. 
The bluffs, the harbors, little and great, the 
fort, the point of the Neck, the islands, and 
the north shore, the bay and the limitless 
ocean may all be seen, as in the palmiest day 
of the Fountain Inn. It is as grand and 
beautiful an outlook as ever came within the 
range of mortal vision. Above the surface 
of the ground no trace of the Fountain Inn is 
to be seen ; but if you were to break the green- 
sward in the orchard, and dig a little below, 
you would find the foundation stones of the 
old Inn. 

Below I give the authority for some of the 
statements already made as it appears in the 
Essex Registry of Deeds : 

** January 7, 1 72 1 , William Bartlett, Senior, 
of Marblehead, yeoman and fisherman, and 
his wife Sarah conveyed to their son Na- 
thaniel Bartlett of Marblehead, mariner and 
innholder, a small piece of land where his 
cellar now is, in our orchard, before our 



THE FOUNTAIN INN. 13 

mansion house at Little Harbor." (Bk. 39, 
If. 15.) 

"August 22, 1723, Nathaniel Bartlett, 
Senior, of Marblehead, shoresman, executor 
of the will of his uncle, Nathaniel Walton, 
late of Marblehead, deceased, conveyed to 
his cousin, Nathaniel Bartlett, Junior, of 
Marblehead, mariner and innholder, a piece 
of land on which the deceased's barn and 
cow-house formerly stood where the grantee 
'hath set up a new house.' " (R. D. bk. 
41, If. 167.) 

Nathaniel Bartlett died here while con- 
ducting the tavern in 1749. His widow, 
Jane, married secondly a Mr. Jackson, and 
December 12, 1750, there was assigned to her 
as dower "the southeasterly end of the 
Fountain Tavern, so called, at the north end 
of the town, with a small piece of garden of 
about one pole in breadth, lying on the 
westerly side of Thomas Bartlett 's land 
there, and all the land lying at the southeast 
end of the house the whole breadth thereof, 
with the northeasterly end of the wood- 
house, extending to the middle thereof, 
(reserving to lie in common for the free and 



14 THE FOUNTAIN INN. 

equal use of all parties concerned, the well 
belonging to the homestead and all of the 
land now lying on the southwest of the house 
at the north end, and all entry and stairways 
from the cellar to the garret and a passage- 
way through the outer cellar doors and from 
thence to all parts of the cellar). ' ' 

"February 9, 1 750-1 the remainder of the 
estate was divided among the heirs of Na- 
thaniel Bartlett of Marblehead, innholder, 
Mary, widow of Andrew Tucker of Marble- 
head, mariner, and Widow Sarah Preble. To 
Sarah Preble was assigned the northwesterly 
end of the Fountain Tavern, near Little Har- 
bor, with the chamber over the entryway 
with the land exclusive of that assigned to 
the widow" (R. D. bk. 94, If. 263), leaving 
the remainder, the kitchen, dining-room and 
chamber over, to Mrs. Tucker. 

"March 20, 1 750-1, Mrs. Preble conveyed 
her part to Nathaniel Bartlett." (R. D. 
bk. 96, If. 107.) 

"In 1756 the estate of John Riddan re- 
covered a judgment against the estate of 
Nathaniel Bartlett, Junior, and the north- 
westerly half of the Fountain Inn and his 



AGNES SURRIAGE. 15 

interest in the southwesterly portion. (Sam- 
uel Rogers was occupying the premises at 
that time.) The premises were set ofT to 
the Riddan estate February 9, 1757. (R. D. 
bk. 103, If. 201.) 

"October 26, 1789, Joseph Hinckley of 
Marblehead, merchant, and his wife Deborah 
conveyed to Captain John Patten, mariner, 
their interest in the Fountain garden and the 
land thereto adjoining, on which the house 
called the Fountain Tavern formerly stood, 
except a small part thereof claimed by Mrs. 
Rogers and others." (R. D. bk. 154, If. 

I79-) 

"January 8, 1792, Widow Deborah Bourn 

of Marblehead conveyed her interest in the 
estate to Captain Patten." (R. D. bk. 154, 
If. 180.) 

Agnes Surriage* was born in Marblehead 
and was baptized April 17, 1726, by Rev. 
Edward Holyoke, at that time pastor of the 
Second Church. Her father was Edward 



♦The fourth in a family of eight children: Edward, baptized July 
5, 1719; Mary, baptized January 14, 1722; Josiah, baptized April 
5, 1724; Agnes, baptized April 17, 1726; Thomas, baptized May 5, 
1728; John, baptized June 28, 1730; Hugh, baptized September 17, 
1732; Isaac. 



1 6 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

Surriage, a poor fisherman of Marblehead, 
of whose ancestry we have no knowledge. 
Her mother was Mary (Pierce) Surriage, a 
daughter of Richard Pierce, New Harbor, Me., 
whose family was brought to Marblehead at 
the time of the King Philip War. She was 
a granddaughter of the celebrated John 
Brown, who settled at Pemaquid, now Bris- 
tol, Me., in 1625, and bought of the In- 
dians a large tract of land. John Brown 
was a merchant of London of considerable 
wealth, of great activity, and of good family; 
shrewd in his business transactions and just 
in his dealings. Agnes, at least on her 
mother's side, was of good stock. 

Sir Charles Henry Frankland was born in 
Bengal, May 10, 1716, while his father. Sir 
Thomas Frankland, was residing there as 
governor of the East India Company's facto- 
ry in that place. His mother was Elizabeth 
(Cross) Frankland. He was a direct descend- 
ant of Oliver Cromwell. He was the oldest 
of seven sons, was educated in affluence as 
the presumptive heir to the baronetcy and 
the estates at Thickleby and Mattersea. 
His family was one of the most ancient, (as 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 17 

the name would indicate) wealthy and re- 
spectable in the north of England. He was 
Collector of the Port of Boston from 1741 to 
1757, (receiving his commission from the 
King in spite of Sir William Shirley's efforts 
to obtain the same appointment). His 
salary was one hundred pounds sterling and 
perquisites. He belonged to the Church of 
England; was a pew owner and regular con- 
tributor to King's Chapel. 

We cannot, in any degree, justify or palli- 
ate Frankland's standard of morals during 
the earlier part of his life. He tried to make 
amends for it in his later years. 

Marblehead in 1742 was authorized to 
erect a fortification, now known as Fort 
Sewall, for the defense of the harbor against 
the French cruisers, and six hundred and 
ninety pounds were appropriated by the 
government for that object. The Collector 
of the Port of Boston, in a general way, 
superintended the erection of this fort. 

During the summer Sir Harry Frankland,, 
then Collector of Boston, made a business 
visit to Marblehead, which was then a flour- 
ishing town and already a port of entry of 



i8 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

great importance, and sought entertainment 
at the Fountain Inn. 

While at the Inn his attention was at- 
tracted by a beautiful girl, about sixteen 
years old, who at the time was engaged in 
scrubbing the floor of the hall near the stairs. 
Her dress was scanty and poor and there 
were neither stockings or shoes on her feet. 
She was a waiting girl of all work at the Inn. 
Though her garb was so poor and her em- 
ployment so servile there was in her form and 
features gleams of beauty that instantly 
attracted the attention of the Collector. 

One writer has said, " Her ringlets were as 
black and glossy as the raven, her dark eyes 
beamed with light and loveliness, her voice 
was musical ; and she bore the charming name 
of Agnes Surriage. " 

Frankland, a young man of about twenty- 
six years, called her to his side, and made 
some kindly enquiries in relation to her 
parents and gave her a crown, with which to 
buy a pair of shoes. 

Visiting the town again a little later in the 
season, as on his previous visit, he drove 
with his coach and four to the Fountain Inn. 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 19 

While there, he saw Agnes again in her work, 
as before, without stockings or shoes; and to 
his inquiry why she had not purchased the 
shoes she answered, " I have indeed, sir, with 
the crown you gave me, but I keep them to 
wear to meeting. ' ' The natural sprightliness 
of her mind and the artlessness and modesty 
of her ways, quite captivated the heart of 
Frankland. He sought and gained permis- 
sion of her parents to remove her to Boston 
to be educated. 

On her arrival in town Agnes was immedi- 
ately given the best educational advantages 
that the place then afforded, not only in 
literature but also in whatever graces and 
accomplishments were then thought requisite 
to make a fashionable and perfect lady. 

In acquiring a polite education, she did not 
however lose the artless simplicity of her 
childhood. She was industrious and pains- 
taking in all her efforts and quickly mastered 
the sciences placed within her reach. Thus 
several years passed, during which Agnes 
steadily pursued her studies under careful 
and accomplished teachers. 

In 1745 Frankland purchased of Mrs. Sur- 



20 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

riage a tract of land in Maine which had fallen 
to her on the decease of her father, for which 
he paid her the sum of fifty pounds. Mrs. Sur- 
riage was at this time a widow, and poor. It is 
probable that Frankland took this method 
of assisting her, as there appears no evidence 
that he ever made any use of his purchase. 

In 1746, by the death of his uncle, Sir 
Thomas Frankland, M. P., and one of the 
Lords of the Admiralty, the baronetcy of 
Thirsk devolved on Sir Harry as the nearest 
blood relative, and he received the title of 
Sir Charles Henry Frankland, Bart. 

Not long after this time Agnes Surriage, 
having finished her course of study and 
grown into a beautiful and charming woman, 
entered the family of Sir Harry Frankland, 
which in the opinion of sedate and circum- 
spect Boston was, without the matrimonial 
bond, highly improper. A storm of just 
indignation rose against such an alliance 
which neither wealth, nor noble name, nor 
official power, nor courtly manners could 
allay. Therefore Frankland resolved to seek 
a residence for himself and Agnes in the 
seclusion of the country. 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 21 

In 1 75 1, Rev. Roger Price, rector of King's 
Chapel, an intimate friend of Frankland's, 
had taken up an extensive tract of land in 
Hopkinton, one of the most romantic towns 
in Middlesex County, with the intention of 
building a mission church for such Episco- 
palians as had, or might, become residents of 
the place. This circumstance, with the ex- 
cellent soil and beauty of the scenery, induced 
Frankland to select this town for his retire- 
ment from the annoyance of the busy tongues 
of Boston. 

Accordingly he bought four hundred and 
eighty acres of land in 175 1-2 in the easterly 
part of the town. The tract Hes along the 
southern and western slope of a hill called in 
the Indian tongue, " Magunco, " (the place of 
great trees). 

On the southwestern slope of this hill Sir 
Harry selected an eligible site, and erected a 
commodious manor house and reduced more 
than one hundred acres of his land to tillage ; 
planted extensive orchards, built a costly 
barn, one hundred feet long, surmounted by 
a cupola; a granary which was set upon six 
wrought, conical freestone pillars which 



22 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

he had imported from England for the pur- 
pose; and houses for his servants equal to 
those of many of the farmers in the neigh- 
borhood. 

Horticulture being a favorite occupation 
and one in which Agnes most heartily sym- 
pathized, he introduced from England a great 
variety of choice fruit trees, including apple, 
pear, plum, peach, cherry, apricot, quince, 
etc. His eye for beauty led him to set out 
elms and other ornamental trees upon his 
grounds and to embellish his walks with the 
box, lilac, hawthorne and the rose. 

Refined taste was manifested within doors 
as well as without. The mansion was large 
and strongly built. It stood at some dis- 
tance from the road, and was approached 
by an avenue cut through the chestnut 
forest, and beautified by a flower garden 
tastefully arranged in front. The spacious 
hall, sustained by fluted columns, was hung 
with tapestry, richly ornamented with dark 
figures on a ground of deepest green, accord- 
ing to the fashion of the times. The chimney 
pieces were of Italian marble; cornices of 
stucco-work and other costly finishing em- 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 23 

bellished the parlor, ante-rooms and cham- 
bers. 

The grounds around the house were laid 
out in the most artistic manner, with ter- 
races and walks bordered with shrubs of many- 
kinds ; with arbors and cosy retreats in unex- 
pected but beautiful and romantic places, 
the great trees making this possible as it 
would not have been where nature and time 
had done less to aid them. 

To this beautiful retreat, in the summer 
of 1752, Frankland retired with Agnes Sur- 
riage and a natural son, born in England, 
named Henry Cromwell, then about twelve 
years old. 

Here it seems they spent their time in 
directing the affairs of the plantation, upon 
which not less than a dozen slaves were em- 
ployed, in deer and fox hunting, in angUng 
for the speckled trout in the brooks nearby 
and in reading their favorite authors. 

While Frankland was engaged in the 
pleasures of country life in Hopkinton he did 
not neglect the duties of his office as Col- 
lector of Boston, but scrupulously attended 
to them. 



24 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

From the Hopkinton records of March 12, 
1753, it appeared that the town voted to 
grant Sir Harry Frankland's request in 
respect to a road through the land that was 
Jeremiah Hobbs' and also that £1. 8s. id. 
be discounted from his rates by reason of his 
being a churchman. 

In the spring of 1754 it was found neces- 
sary that Frankland should visit England to 
attend to some matters relating to the set- 
tlement of the estate of his uncle, Sir Thomas 
Frankland. 

Leaving the Custom House in charge of 
his deputy, he, with Agnes Surriage, em- 
barked for London where they arrived early 
in the summer. But when he attempted to 
introduce Agnes into the circle of his dis- 
tinguished relatives, in spite of his solicita- 
tions, she was treated with disdain; but Sir 
Harry's devotion to her was in no degree 
diminished by this. 

Having finished his business in England, 
Sir Harry, with his fair protegee, made a tour 
of Europe, finally stopping in Lisbon, at that 
time a popular and fashionable retreat. The 
Kingdom of Portugal was at the zenith of its 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 25 

prosperity, receiving large returns of gold 
from its Brazilian possessions in America. 
Here he hired and furnished a house and 
entered into the gay round of fashionable 
life. 

From this time to the close of his life 
the baronet kept a kind of journal or diary, 
which is in the possession of the Massachu- 
setts Historical Society. It is a rare and 
curious duodecimo of about two hundred 
pages, wTitten in his own hand, and contains 
an account of current expenses, items of 
business, memoranda of estates, recipes, 
proverbs, etc. 

In 1755 Sir Harry visited England, sailed 
June 3d on board the packet Hanover for 
London and arrived at Falmouth, June 16; 
came to his house in Clargis street, July 6. 
In returning he set out from London, Sep- 
tember 4th, by the way of Falmouth to 
Lisbon. 

One of the most violent and destructive 
earthquakes of modern times took place 
November i, 1755. The center of the shock 
seemed to be a little to the west of Portugal, 
but the agitation of the earth's surface was 



a 6 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

equal to seven and one-half million square 
miles. The shock was felt all over Western 
Europe, Northern Africa and even to the 
West Indies. The most terrible destruction, 
however, occurred at Lisbon, which was near 
the center of the volcanic disturbance. 

The city stands on the right bank of the 
Tagus River, at this point about three miles 
wide; and at that time was a crowded, costly 
city, with dwellings, stores, churches, palaces, 
built of white marble. It had in 1755 al- 
most 250,000 people within its limits, and 
was the residence of the richest king in Eu- 
rope. The morning of that terrible day was 
unusually fine. The golden light of the ris- 
ing sun was diffused throughout the city,, 
across the valleys, upon the hilltops beyond, 
and lighted up the river and the ocean that 
laid before them like a sea of glass with a 
brilliancy that could not be excelled. 

It was All Saints' Day, a day of imposing 
ceremony. The chiming bells were pealing 
forth their merry notes; the streets were 
crowded with carriages and people gaily 
dressed, people of every class, moving toward 
the various churches for the celebration 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 27 

of high mass. At 10 o'clock, A.M., the bells 
are silent ; the worshipers are kneeling at the 
altars and the priests are proceeding with the 
services, when suddenly a sound is heard like 
thunder from the bosom of the earth; the 
solid walls are shaking ; the terror of the peo- 
ple is beyond description; nobody cried, it 
was beyond tears. A moment afterward 
another shock breaks the awful silence and 
the fear is realized. The foundations of the 
churches and palaces are loosened, the walls 
and the towers rock to and fro, and with a 
crash topple to the ground, burying nearly 
thirty thousand of the affrighted people in 
one common grave! the earth shakes and 
trembles for the space of twenty minutes — 
thirty churches and nearly all of the stores 
and houses are in ruins — in many places the 
streets are filled with the fallen stones and 
timbers — the city itself is in ruins. 

The King and his court, being at Belem at 
the time, was saved. (Belem was about a 
mile southwest of Lisbon.) Writing to his 
sister, Queen of Spain, he said, "Here I am, 
a King without a capitol, without subjects, 
without raiment. " 



28 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

Frankland had gone out upon the morning 
of that fatal day in his court dress to witness 
the celebration of high mass. He was riding 
with a lady on his way, when the earth began 
to rise and sink like a wave at sea, the walls 
of the buildings totter, bend and break over 
him, covering horses, carriage and its occu- 
pants in the ruin. The horses are killed, and 
his companion, in her agony, bites entirely 
through the sleeve of his red broadcloth coat 
and tears a piece of flesh from his arm. 
While thus entombed Frankland made a 
solemn vow that if he ever reached the outer 
world again he would live a different life, and 
first of all atone for the wrongs he had done 
his best friend and make Agnes Surriage his 
lawful wife. It would now be no humiliation 
for him, an English baron, to marry a poor 
servant girl. 

Meanwhile Agnes, who had rushed from 
the house where she was, at the first warning 
of danger, escaped harm, and set out in 
earnest search for Sir Harry. Making her way 
along the streets now filled in places with 
smouldering ruins, she fortunately came to 
the very spot where he lay buried. She 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 29 

heard the smothered accents of his well- 
known voice, and offered large rewards to 
men to assist in his recovery. In the course 
of an hour she had the inexpressible pleasure 
of seeing him lifted from his living tomb. 
He was carried to a place of safety, where 
his wounds were dressed, and was then re- 
moved to Belem. Faithful to his vow, a 
priest was called to solemnize the rite of 
marriage, and Agnes Surriage rises to take 
the honored name of Lady Agnes Frank- 
land. 

Frankland seized his first opportunity to 
return to England, and on his voyage thither, 
there being a clergyman of his own church 
on board, to make the marriage doubly sure 
he had the ceremony again performed. 

On his arrival he introduced the Lady 
Agnes to his mother, who received her cor- 
dially as a daughter ; and others of the family 
recognizing her rank, her beauty and her 
elegant manners, made up for past neglect 
by a generous welcome and many special 
tokens of esteem. 

It was a strange freak of fortune, such as 
the world seldom sees, that a servant girl, the 



30 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

daughter of a poor fisherman, should come to 
move in the aristocratic circles of the Frank - 
lands, Pelhams, Scarboroughs, Pitts and 
Walpoles which at that time exercised such 
influence over the destinies of the most pow- 
erful empire in the world. 

As soon as the condition of Lisbon would 
permit, Frankland returned to that city and 
resumed his journal, as follows: ''April, 
1756, records from the Second Church in 
Marblehead, my wife was baptized by the 
Rev. Mr. Edward Holyoke, the pastor of said 
church, in name of Agnes Surriage. ' ' "April 
26 sailed from Belem to Boston on board the 
ship Friendship, Captain Eleazer Johnson." 

On Frankland 's arrival at Boston he in- 
troduced to his compeers the lovely and 
accomplished but once slighted Agnes Sur- 
riage as Lady Frankland, who was at once 
recognized as a star of the first magnitude in 
the polished circles of the town. 

In October of this year (1756) Frankland 
bought of Thomas Greenough for ;^ 1,2 00 
sterling the celebrated Clark mansion on 
Garden Court street and Bell Alley at the 
north end of the town. This house was 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 31 

erected by one of the wealthiest merchants 
in Boston, and was intended to rival in 
splendor the far-famed Hutchinson house 
adjoining it. It was of brick, three stories 
high, and contained in all twenty-six rooms. 
To this elegant mansion, furnished with 
regal splendor. Sir Harry introduced his 
Lady, and here during the winter she pre- 
sided over the elite of the court end of the 
town as one of the most charming women of 
that period. The summer of 1757 was 
passed in their delightful home in Hopkin- 
ton, where they enjoyed all of the pleasures 
of a quiet country life, visiting Boston as 
occasion might require, but not always 
without incident, as we find the New Hamp- 
shire Gazette, September 2, 1757, has the 
following: "Boston, August 20, i757- 
Thursday last, as Sir Harry Frankland and 
his lady were coming into town in their 
chariot a number of boys were gunning on 
Boston Neck (notwithstanding there is an 
express law to the contrary) when one of 
them discharged his piece at a bird, missed 
the same, and almost the whole charge of 
shot came into the chariot where Sir Harry 



32 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

and his lady were, several of which entered 
his hat and clothes and one grazed his face, 
but did no other damage to him or lady. ' ' 

During the year 1757 Frankland's de- 
clining health made him seek a milder cli- 
mate than that of Boston, and as his resi- 
dence in Portugal had made him well ac- 
quainted with the language and commercial 
regulations, he sought and obtained of King 
George II an appointment as Consul General 
of that Kingdom. On his appointment to 
that office he ceased to be Collector of the 
Port of Boston, and soon took passage for 
Lisbon. 

(From his diary.) "1758 sailed from 
Piscataqua in North America for England in 
the Mermaid man-of-war, Captain Alexander 
Innis. " 

"July 4, 1759, attending to the duties of 
my office in Lisbon. ' ' 

"August 9, 1763, sailed from Lisbon in 
the Hanover packet. Captain Sherburn, and 
arrived at Falmouth on Wednesday, August 
17," and from thence to Hopkinton. His 
health continued to decline and soon, he, with 
his lady and Henry Cromwell, took passage 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. ^^ 

for Bath, England, for the purpose of enjoy- 
ing the benefit of its mineral waters. 

Though he left Lisbon in 1763 he held his 
office until 1767. 

He died in Bath, January 11, 1768, aged 
51 years, 8 months and i day, and was 
buried at Ireston Church in the vicinity of 
Bath. 

The following monumental inscription 
may be found high against the wall in the 
nave of the church: 

"To the memory of Sir Charles Henry Frankland of 
Thirkleby in the County of York, Baronet, Consul 
General for many years at Lisbon, from whence he 
came in hopes of recovering from a bad state of health 
to Bath where after a tedious and painful illness, which 
he sustained with patience and resignation, becoming a 
Christian, he died nth January, 1768, in the 52 d year 
of his life, without issue, and at his own desire lies 
buried in this church. This monument is erected by 
his affectionate widow, Agnes, Lady Frankland." 

Sir Harry Frankland possessed more than 
ordinary executive ability, a good and dis- 
criminating judgment and accomplished and 
graceful manners; his integrity was above 
suspicion. He delighted in elegant literature. 



34 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

in the beauties of nature, in practical gar- 
dening, and in social life ; and in his beloved 
Agnes, refined and beautiful above her sex, 
he ever found the liveliest sympathy and the 
most cordial assistance. At heart, he was 
ever true to his friends ; as a neighbor, gener- 
ous and kind; as a citizen, upright and 
noble. 

When Frankland returned to Hopkinton 
after the earthquake he brought with him the 
red broadcloth coat with its rent sleeve, the 
bent and battered sword and scabbard he 
had worn by his side and other relics of that 
terrible day, and hung them along the tapes- 
tried walls of one of the chambers of his 
mansion. On each anniversary of his de- 
liverance from that dreadful catastrophe he 
entered this room, locked the door upon him- 
self, closed the shutters, and in darkness and 
silence spent the day. 

In June, 1768, after her husband's death. 
Lady Frankland returned from England to 
Hopkinton and there remained until 1775. 
She ever had the deepest affection for her 
parents, her brothers and sisters and their 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 35 

children. Her sister, Mrs. Swain, and her 
children continued to reside with her. 

The arrival of British troops in Boston in 
1775 and the consequent action of the Col- 
onists, rendered it necessary in many cases 
for the Royalists to abandon their estates 
and seek refuge among their friends. 

I^ady Frankland, leaving her mansion and 
estate in Hopkinton in charge of her sister, 
Mrs. Mary Swain, and her daughter, Mrs, 
John Dupee, with Henry Cromwell and a 
few trusty servants set out for Boston, tak- 
ing the precaution to obtain permission of 
the Colonial Congress. May 15, she received 
from the Committee of Safety a permit to 
enter Boston with her attendants and goods, 
as follows : " Six trunks, one chest, three beds 
and bedding, six wethers, two pigs, one small 
keg of pickled tongues, some hay, three bags 
of corn and such other goods as she thinks 
proper." But regardless of her permit, her 
carriage was stopped on the way by a party 
of armed men under the direction of Abner 
Craft and her person and goods held in cus- 
tody, though she bore the following permit : 



36 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

"To THE Colony Guard: 

"Permit Lady Frankland of Hopkinton, with 
her attendants, goods and provisions above mentioned, 
to pass to Boston, with the express orders of the Com- 
mittee of Safety 

"Benjamin Church, Jr., Chairman. 
"Headquarters, Salem, May 15, 1775." 

As Mr. Craft, anxious to serve his country, 
had captured the lady without regard to the 
instructions of the Committee of Safety, he 
was immediately ordered to appear before 
the Provincial Congress to answer to the 
allegations made against him in respect to 
the detention of Lady Frankland. And 
Congress resolved ' ' that he should be gently 
admonished by the President, and be assured 
that the Congress was determined to retain 
their power over the military." "Mr. Craft 
was again called and the President politely 
admonished him agreeably to the resolution 
of Congress. " 

It was then resolved "that Lady Frank- 
land be permitted to go to Boston with the 
following articles, viz. : Seven trunks, all 
the beds and the furniture to them, all the 
boxes and crates; a basket of chickens and a 
bag of corn; two barrels and a hamper; two 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 37 

horses and two chaises and all the articles in 
the chaises, excepting arms and ammu- 
nition; one phaeton; some tongues, ham and 
veal and sundry small bundles, which arti- 
cles having been examined by a committee 
from this Congress, she is permitted to have 
them carried in without further examina- 
tion." 

May 19th, Congress "resolved that Colonel 
Bond be and hereby is directed to appoint a 
guard of six men to escort Lady Frankland 
to Boston with such of her effects as this 
Congress have permitted her to carry with 
her, and Colonel Bond is directed to wait on 
General Thomas with a copy of the resolves 
of this Congress." 

Defended by a guard of six soldiers. Lady 
Frankland entered Boston about the first of 
June, and took possession of her house on 
Garden Court street, where she was greeted 
by her old friends, especially by General 
Burgoyne, whom she had known in Portu- 
gal. 

From the windows of this mansion she 
witnessed, in company with many others, 
the thriUing scenes of the Battle of Bunker 



38 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

Hill, and aided with her own hands to assuage 
the sufferings of the wounded. She soon 
after, with Henry Cromwell, sailed for Eng- 
land and resided in the Frankland family 
until 1782, receiving the love and homage of 
all who knew her. 

In 1782 she was married to John Drew, 
Esquire, a wealthy banker of Chichester. 
Her life with him was brief, for taking a sud- 
den cold and inflammation of the lungs ensu- 
ing, she died April 23, 1 783, at the age of fifty- 
seven years, and was buried in Chichester. 

In the burial ground of St. Pancras Church, 
Chichester, is a long series of epitaphs for the 
Drews, the one at the end of their altar- 
tomb being as follows : 

Dame Agnes Frankland 

Relict of 

Sir Charles Henry Frankland, Bart. 

and late wife of 

John Drew 

Died April 23, 1783, 

Aged 55 years. 

On the death of Lady Frankland the 
estate in Boston came by will to her sister, 
Mrs. Mary (McClester) Swain; then to her 
son Daniel McClester, who devised it to his 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 39 

uncle, Isaac Surriage* of Hopkinton. (The 
house was torn down about 1832.) 

While other estates of Loyalists were 
forfeited, on account of difficulties that arose 
in the minds of the Committee of Safety, 
the Hopkinton estate was not confiscated, 
there being at the time so many innocent 
persons depending upon it. It continued 
in the possession of Mrs. Swain, Mrs. Dupee 
and her son until 1793, when it was sold by 
Rufus Green Amory, Esquire, attorney for 
Henry Cromwell of Chichester, England, to 
whom it had been devised by will, to Dr. 
Timothy Shepard of Sherbum for the sum 
of ;^95o. Dr. Shepard died in 1803 and left 
the estate to his widow, who held it in pos- 
session until her decease, June 22, 1857, at 
the age of eighty-seven years. 

In 1857, the estate reduced to about one 
hundred acres, came into the possession of 
Elias Nason. Unfortunately the house was 



*September 5. 1738, Isaac Surriage married Ruhamak Pedrick of 
Marblehead. He had followed the sea for many years; at length 
settled in Hopkinton, purchased a farm of sixty-seven acres of John 
Parker, April 22, 1784, where he died September, 1813. He was 
short, thick set and pitted with smallpox. He also bought the 
Rider and Tidd places. 



40 SIR Hx\RRY FRANKLAND. 

burned by accidental fire, January 23, 1858. 
After the accident Mr. Nason wrote : 

"All is not lost; the well-constructed 
double walls of stone still enclose the grounds ; 
the terraces upon the sloping hillside; the 
blocks of skilfully- wrought sandstone on 
which the granary stood; the lines of box in 
the flower garden, now some ten or twelve 
feet high; the avenue formed by Persian 
lilacs, now grown into noble trees ; the snow- 
ball; the buckthorn, pear and apple trees 
scattered over the plantation; the lofty and 
majestic elms that wave their huge branches 
over the capacious green, falling by gentle 
inclination to the road; these still remain, 
attesting to the wealth and taste of the 
original proprietor." 

The house was rebuilt, but with not quite its 
former elegance. That house, after the lapse 
of less than fifty years, was destroyed by fire. 

On the 2oth day of September, 1904, the 
oldest* and the youngest members of the 
Marblehead Historical Society made a pil- 
grimage to this charming retreat. In a 
lonely valley on the road from Hopkinton 

* The President and his grandson. 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 41 

to Ashland they stepped out of the electric 
car and entered a path-way through the 
woods. They found a well-trodden path 
and in three or four minutes emerged from 
the wood upon a field of some thirty acres, 
the former garden of the Franklands. Across 
this field in plain view was the site of the 
Frankland house. They followed the path 
across the field, and as they neared the 
picturesque country road, on a little knoll at 
their left, they saw what might have been the 
foundations of two small cottages, perhaps 
for workmen or servants. They crossed the 
road and entered the driveway. There the 
landmarks were very distinct. The drive- 
way to the house passed around a spacious 
grass plot and back to the road again. In 
the center of the grass plot were the remains 
of a stone and cement fountain, an oval 
about six by eight feet, which may have 
brought to Agnes' mind her early days at the 
Fountain Inn. At the side of the drive- 
way there were three immense elms, certain- 
ly of an hundred and fifty years' growth and 
undoubtedly planted by Sir Harry Frank- 
land. On the right hand side of the way 



42 SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 

was the cellar of the old mansion. Here is 
distinctly shown the outlines of the old 
house. The cellar wall remains almost in- 
tact; the front and side steps, where the 
"coach and four" were reined in for the 
egress or the reception of the lord and lady 
of the mansion or their guests, and the sleek 
but impatient horses pawed the graveled 
way; here, too, are the stone stairs to the 
cellar, also the base of the chimneys, in one 
of which a part of the fireplace still remains, 
while the bricks from the fallen tops are 
strewn about the cellar floor. There also 
remains one section of the frame of the ex- 
treme end of the kitchen wing, having passed 
the ordeal of two fires; the posts, girt and 
braces stand straight and firm, though 
charred to almost a coal. It is all that 
remains of the original Frankland house, but 
is sufficient to show that the house was 
built in the most substantial manner. The 
extension beyond, though charred within 
from sill to ridgepole, is almost intact with- 
out, but is evidently of a more modern build. 
Standing on the lawn between the fountain 
and the road is one of the six "elaborately 



SIR HARRY FRANKLAND. 43 

wrought" sandstone pillars brought from 
England by Frankland on which to set his 
granary, and lying upon the lawn in front of 
the house is another. These pillars are 
conical, of a diameter of about thirteen 
inches at the base and seven at the apex, and 
about three feet in height. 

The large barn now standing on the prem- 
ises is not the original, the one built by 
Frankland, that was blown down in the 
terrific gale, September 23, 181 5, and was 
replaced by one not so capacious. 

It is a charming place; charming in its 
loneliness and desolation. Standing upon 
this eminence you can see no human habita- 
tion, and on that day there was not the song 
of a bird or the chirp of a squirrel to be heard. 
Looking across broad fields specked here and 
there with the fragments of an orchard, a 
decaying tree, a stump in the ground, a 
clump of bushes, and up and down the grass- 
grown and wood-lined road you see beyond 
nothing but trees ; trees on every side. It is 
a beautiful spot; but its life and light went 
out with the passing of Sir Harry and Lady 
Agnes Frankland and the Fountain Inn. 



